RELATED: Busch, Logano mix it up on pit road

In what can only be described as a bout of fortuitous timing, Team Penske driver Joey Logano appeared on FS1’s NASCAR RaceHub on Tuesday, two days after an eventful Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After a third straight top-six finish to open the season in the Kobalt 400 as part of the resurgence for Ford and Team Penske (teammate Brad Keselowski nearly won his second straight before a late-race parts failure), Logano addressed the heated confrontation with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch on pit road following the race.

"At that point, I was trying to calm everything down and tell him, ‘Hey, I got loose underneath you and my bad’ and it didn’t seem like he wanted to talk much at the time," Logano said. "At this point, I realized that and, so, not the way I don’t think any of us really wanted that to end."

Following contact on the final lap while both were running in the top five, Logano’s No. 22 Ford made contact with Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, sending the 2015 champion spinning across the start/finish line to a 22nd-place finish.

Busch then hastily walked up to Logano on pit road and threw a punch before being tackled and eventually separated by NASCAR officials.

Logano said he had called Busch on Tuesday to have a discussion.

"We’ve spoken. Obviously we didn’t speak much there, so I got a chance to call him up earlier today to be able to talk to him a little bit and at least tell my side of the story," Logano said. "We’re going to have two sides to the story like there is all the time, but really the bottom line is we’re two passionate race car drivers. We’re two of the best in the sport that are going to go for wins that are aggressive and we collided.

"That’s the part that’s tough, because it’s going to happen. You want to get through it as quick as you can and talk it out, but bottom line is it wasn’t intentional and we’re going to have to work through it somehow. We’ve been racing against each other for nine years. We’ve never had a problem. We’ve been teammates and we’ve known each other really well. I consider him a friend of mine.

"In the heat of the moment, when there’s 40 drivers out there with one goal … to go win the race, right? Eventully tempers are going to fly."

RELATED: France: ‘Not going to get too wound up’ over Busch-Logano flap

Logano now heads to a track in Phoenix Raceway that could see him continue his hot start. The Team Penske driver is the track’s most recent winner; his fall desert victory propelled him to the Championship 4 last November.

The Team Penske driver has just one finish outside the top 10 in the past seven visits to Phoenix.

BUY TICKETS: See the races in Phoenix
MORE: Dash 4 Cash 101

 

It is a decidedly different venue and slightly different format, but the opportunity remains the same — the chance to earn a $100,000 bonus and move one step closer to a potential $1 million payoff.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash program makes its Phoenix Raceway debut this weekend with Saturday’s DC Solar 200 (4 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

It’s the ninth year of the four-race program that rewards the highest-finishing series regular in each race with a $100,000 bonus. Should the same driver finish highest in all four D4C races, he would pocket an additional $600,000 bonus for a $1 million total — the $600,000 bonus officially was confirmed Tuesday night.

Three of this year’s four Dash 4 Cash races will be contested at venues that have hosted XFINITY Series events since the series’ inaugural 1982 season — Bristol, Richmond and Dover. Phoenix has been a series staple since ’99 and replaces Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a D4C race this season.

"For me in particular I think it’s great," Justin Allgaier, one of four drivers for JR Motorsports and the most recent Dash 4 Cash winner, told NASCAR.com Tuesday. "I’ve been very fortunate that of the race tracks we go to, 1-mile ovals are definitely kind of my advantages I would say.

"But the other part of it is that it’s just a great place, right? It’s fan-friendly, it’s fun to race on; it’s one of those places where you can actually battle somebody wheel-to-wheel and run multiple laps side by side and really not affect your day. Some race tracks you go to you can race side-by-side but you’re better off just to get in line and go. Phoenix is one of those places that kind of warrants itself to two and three lanes and different approaches.

"So from a series standpoint I think it’s great but from a Justin Allgaier standpoint I think it’s even better."

Allgaier snapped up the $100,000 bonus in the final D4C event last season, at Indianapolis.

Unlike last year when the four D4C-eligible drivers were determined based on finishing positions in two heat races, this year the four qualifiers will be based on finishing positions in the first two stages of each D4C race.

With race and playoff points already up for grabs at the conclusion of each stage, the opportunity to earn a D4C berth will make stage finishes even more important if not necessarily any more tense.

"In some ways as drivers we’re already racing for everything we’ve got to get those (stage) points," Allgaier said. "… I don’t know that it gives you any more or less pressure. You know you’re going to have to push as hard as you can. And hope, hope, hope that you’re in a good spot there. That’s no different to me whether it’s a Dash 4 Cash race, last weekend in Las Vegas or two weeks from now at Auto Club … it’s the same pressure to put yourself in the top 10."

Competitors with five or more years of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series experience, and not competing for XFINITY Series points, are not eligible to compete in Dash 4 Cash events. While that eligibility requirement excludes drivers such as Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr., two of last year’s D4C race winners, there will be Monster Energy Series drivers in Saturday’s race.

Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) and Ty Dillon (Germain Racing) will compete for RCR; Daniel Suarez (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Erik Jones (Furniture Row Racing) will compete for JGR while Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing) will be behind the wheel of the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske.

Fifteen drivers have won one or more D4C bonuses with Elliott Sadler, Regan Smith and Austin Dillon topping the list at three apiece. No driver has swept all four races to cash out with the $1 million bonus.

"What XFINITY and Comcast do for our sport in general, whether it’s just XFINITY or all of NASCAR, is just incredible," Allgaier said. "To see the amount of time and effort and energy and resources that they put into this sport is absolutely amazing.

"I think this program couldn’t happen in a better series and I hope they keep going with it because it’s been really cool."

RELATED: Another angle of the Busch-Logano conflict

MORE: Photos of the incident



Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, said Monday that competition officials were continuing to review Sunday’s post-race conflict between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but the sanctioning body is inclined "not to react" pending further video review.


O’Donnell’s remarks came Monday morning in a guest appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s "Morning Drive" program.


O’Donnell said NASCAR’s competition department was reviewing video footage of the incident, which stemmed from on-track contact between the two drivers’ cars on the last lap of Sunday’s Kobalt 400. Logano’s No. 22 Ford slid into Busch’s No. 18 Toyota in between Turns 3 and 4. The bump sent Busch spinning to a 22nd-place finish, while Logano drove away to place fourth.

RELATED: See what led to the pit road incident

Busch walked with purpose toward Logano after exiting his car on pit road, then lunged at his rival after reaching him. The two were pulled apart, but Busch wound up at the bottom of a pile in a scuffle with officials and crews. A NASCAR official escorted Busch, bloodied by a nick on his forehead, from the scene.


"It’s certainly under review," O’Donnell said. "We have to take everything, make sure we look at all the video, but just from our in assessment last night, as far as on-track I don’t think we saw anything that was intentional by any means. We have to have discussions with both drivers. I think our intention would be not to react unless we see something we haven’t seen yet."


"It’s an emotional sport," O’Donnell added, "and I think it shows exactly how much every position on the track means."


RELATED: What Busch, Logano said | How other drivers reacted



NASCAR officials had no immediate comment about the incident Sunday. O’Donnell also said that officials from the sanctioning body would bring Busch and Logano together for further discussions before getting back on track at Phoenix Raceway.



Asked about the possibility on punishment for crew members on Logano’s No. 22 team, who jumped into the fray after Busch threw a swing, O’Donnell reinforced that NASCAR prefers to leave things in the hands of its drivers.



"What our position has been is that we want to leave it in the drivers’ hands," O’Donnell said. "What we don’t want to see — and the drivers have asked for this, which is very fair — is a crew member initially approaching a driver or initiating some type of altercation with a driver. The early review of this is, this was two drivers with crew members kind of stepping back. Once something happens, a crew is taught, which I think is right, that if someone comes up in your pit box and attacks your guy, you have the right to try and break that up or bring it to a stop. I think that was the initial review that we saw."

RELATED: Busch, Logano mix it up on pit road

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said Monday that the sanctioning body is "not going to get too wound up about" Sunday’s post-race altercation between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.


France’s remarks came during an impromptu appearance Monday afternoon on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s "Tradin’ Paint" program.


Last-lap contact between the cars in a contest for fourth place left Busch fuming at Logano after the Kobalt 400 for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Busch’s No. 18 Toyota spun toward pit road while Logano drove away from their collision to take the position.


MORE: What Busch, Logano said afteward | Driver reaction


Busch marched toward Logano’s No. 22 Ford afterward and took a swipe at his rival, setting off a scrum that involved both crewmembers and NASCAR officials. The two were separated and had harsh words for each other afterward.


Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, told SiriusXM on Monday morning that competition officials were inclined "not to react" pending a review of video footage of the altercation. France echoed O’Donnell’s feelings, reiterating that the emotions and high stakes that helped spark Sunday’s outburst are inherent in stock-car racing.


RELATED: O’Donnell says incident under review


"Listen, it’s an emotional sport as you know," France told SiriusXM. "There’s so much on the line for all these drivers and teams. … So much is expected of these guys to do their thing, so when things happen that are going to happen at a race, it’s not terribly crazy to understand that emotions are going to blow over sometimes, and we get that."


France spoke out against on-track retaliation, saying that he believed Busch and Logano would work through their differences and that the incident would not carry over from Las Vegas to another venue.


"My guess is that Kyle and Joey will sort that out and there really won’t be anything we need to worry about down the road," France said. "If there is, we’ll deal with it. We’ll look at the tape and look at the crewmember participation and different things, but we also want to be realistic that this is … there is just a lot of emotion and a lot of pressure on these guys to do well and compete at a high level. And when something goes terribly wrong, as it did for Kyle, emotions are going to get the best of all of us at some point or another. Obviously, that’s what happened on Sunday."

France also touched on several other pressing topics in his Monday appearance:

  • On Las Vegas Motor Speedway adding a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event in place of New Hampshire Motor Speedway: "Clearly, Las Vegas is a very accepted NASCAR market, but on balance, we don’t like to see any track lose an event. It just has a bad feeling in your stomach when that happens."

  • On the racing produced by breaking events into three stages in NASCAR’s national series: "So whenever we do that, whether it’s stage racing or giving greater incentives, then obviously you get a higher performance level. And that’s true of any sport, not just us."

  • On the move to reducing downforce in NASCAR’s aerodynamic rules: "I was not a fan originally on the lower-downforce package, but I’m wrong a little bit on that — or a lot wrong — because that’s proven to be the cars are harder to drive, it’s more exciting for sure, and so the net of it is that attendance is up and ratings have been up and we’re happy with things, but watching every week to make sure we deliver the best racing in the world."

  • RELATED: Alternate view of the Busch-Logano conflict
    MORE: Photos of the incident

    LAS VEGAS — Leaving his wrecked No. 18 Toyota on pit road following Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch walked briskly with a purpose to Joey Logano and the No. 22 Ford. Without word, he immediately threw a punch at Logano, triggering a fight between the two on the ground and chaos on pit road involving crew men and NASCAR officials.

    A Team Penske public relations employee pulled Logano forcefully away from the incident, while Busch remained on the ground, tussling with several members of the No. 22 crew in a sea of yellow fire suits. A NASCAR official pulled Busch from the brawl and he and another official restrained Busch, shouting, "Kyle!" as Busch flailed his elbows and struggled to break free.

    They led him away from the scene, as the surrounding crowd reacted loudly.

    "I got dumped," Busch said, a trickle of blood rolling down his forehead and onto his nose as he strode away from the track. "Flat-out just drove straight into the corner and wrecked us. That’s how Joey races, so he’s gonna get it."

    Busch and Logano were running in the top five and racing hard for position on the last lap when Logano appeared to become loose and made contact with Busch’s No. 18 Toyota before the final turn, sending it spinning across the track. Logano crossed the start/finish line fourth, while Busch was 22nd.

    "We were just racing hard there at the end," Logano said, red-faced after the incident. "I was underneath him on the backstretch and he tried to crash me into the corner getting underneath Brad (Keselowski) there and at that point I was just trying get through the corner. I was sideways all the way through and get into him. Nothing intentional.

    "I understand his frustration, he crashed. The same thing could have happened into (Turn) 3 what he did to me."

    Logano said he saw Busch walking toward him angrily at the end of the race, but there weren’t any words exchanged prior to the brawl.

    "He wasn’t in a talking mood," Logano said. "He was in a fighting mood, I guess. I don’t know. Typically, you can handle this stuff like men and talk about it. You don’t have to fight, but whatever.

    "I’ve never had an issue with Kyle," he continued. "Kyle and I have always raced really well together. We’ve never had an issue, but I guess that’s over."

    RELATED: Drivers react to Busch-Logano fight

    Busch made a trip to the infield care center after the pit-road spat, but was not called to the NASCAR hauler. No. 22 crew chief Todd Gordon, along with a handful of Team Penske crew members did visit the NASCAR hauler after the race, but on their own consensus, according to a NASCAR official. No one was called to the hauler.

    Joe Gibbs Racing team owner Joe Gibbs sped away from the garage quickly on a golf cart.

    NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton and NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell also stepped into the NASCAR hauler, but did not comment on the incident. A NASCAR official said the sanctioning body likely would not make any statements Sunday because officials need to review footage before any decisions are made.

    RELATED: Read more Inside Groove

    MORE: Why Junior shouldn’t worry about wearing spandex

    It’s no secret that Jimmie Johnson helped his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. get into cycling.


    Perhaps "Seven-Time" shouldn’t take too much credit, though, because it looks like Junior has it in his DNA.



    But maybe NASCAR’s 14-time Most Popular Driver should continue to take biking tips from Johnson since it looks like the "Intimidator" never knew how to properly sit on a bike.

    Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Timmy Hill all will start from the rear Sunday for the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

     

    Patrick, in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, will begin the 400-miler from the rear after her team changed a rear gear. Timmy Hill, in the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet, has a new transmission in his car.

     

    Stenhouse, in the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, will race in a backup car following damage his primary car received during final practice Saturday when he got into the wall.

     

    WATCH: Stenhouse smacks the wall during practice

     

    Patrick qualified 28th, Stenhouse 29th and Hill 39th.

     

    RELATED: See Phoenix races live

     

    NASCAR Goes West continues as the series shifts to Phoenix Raceway for the second race of a three-race weekend swing out west for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Check out the full weekend schedule below.

     

    Note: All times are ET

     

    SUNDAY, MARCH 19:

    PRE-RACE SCHEDULE
    —1:30:00 p.m.: Driver/Crew Chief Meeting (Tent)
    —3:00:00 p.m.: Driver Introductions
    —3:30:00 p.m.: Intro Presentation of Colors: Luke Air Force Base Color Guard
    —3:30:20 p.m.: Invocation by: PIR Chaplain, Ken Bowers
    —3:31:00 p.m.: National Anthem: Dr. Jessie McGuire
    —3:32:30 p.m.: Flyover by: (2) F-35’s – 62nd Fighter Squadron, Luke Air Force Base (Turn 3 to Turn 1)
    —3:37:30 p.m.: "Drivers, Start Your Engines" by: Tamara Ward, Chief Marketing Officer for Camping World
    —3:44:30 p.m.: Green Flag – Camping World 500 (312 Laps, 312 Miles)

    ON TRACK
    — 3:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 500 (312 laps, 312 miles), FOX (Get results)


    PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)

    — Approx 7 p.m.: Post-race press conference

     


     

    FRIDAY, MARCH 17:

    ON TRACK
    — 1-1:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FS1 (Get results)
    — 2-3:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1 (Get results)
    — 4-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FS1 (Get results)
    — 6-6:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, FS1 (Get results)
    — 7:45 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Get results)

    GARAGECAM (Watch live)
    — 1:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
    — 3:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series


    PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)

    — 12 p.m.: Daniel Suarez 
    — 12:15 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash: Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole, Matt Tifft 
    — 3:40 p.m.: Kyle Larson 
    — 5:15 p.m.: Ryan Blaney 
    — 5:30 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr. 
    — 5:45 p.m.: Joey Logano
    — Approx. 8:45 p.m.: Post-qualifying press conferences

    SATURDAY, MARCH 18:

    ON TRACK
    — Noon-12:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS2 (Get results)
    — 1:05 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS2 (Get results)
    — 2:30-3:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS2 (Get results)
    — 4 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series DC Solar 200 (200 laps, 200 miles), FOX (Get results)


    PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)

    — Approx 6:30 p.m.: Post-race press conference

     

     

    What channel is NASCAR programming on this week? We answer that and provide all the weekly NASCAR television listings here.

    RELATED: Find NBCSN in your area | See Phoenix races live

    All times ET

    Monday, March 13
    3 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), FS1
    6 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), FS1
    6:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 (re-air), FS1
    9:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kobalt 400 (re-air), FS2
    5:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
    7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

    Tuesday, March 14
    6 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series: Boyd Gaming 300 (re-air), FS1
    5:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
    7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

    Wednesday, March 15

    5:30 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
    7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

    Thursday, March 16

    5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
    6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub

    Friday, March 17

    Noon, Beyond the Wheel 2017 (re-air), FS1
    1 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FS1
    2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1
    3:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
    4 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FS1
    5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
    6 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, FS1
    7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
    7:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS1

    Saturday, March 18

    4:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice (re-air), FS1
    6 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice (re-air), FS1
    7 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice (re-air), FS1
    8 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (re-air), FS1
    9:30 a.m., 1997 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
    Noon, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS2
    12:30 p.m., IMSA Racing: WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: Sebring, FS1
    1 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS2
    2 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS2
    2:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS2
    3:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Prerace, FOX
    4 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series DC Solar 200, FOX
    6:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Post-Race Show, FOX

    Sunday, March 19

    1 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series DC Solar 200 (re-air), FS1
    7 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series DC Solar 200 (re-air), FS1
    12:30 p.m., 1997 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1
    1:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS2
    3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pre-Race, FOX
    3:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 500, FOX
    9:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FS1
    10 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 500 (re-air), FS1